


blink back to let me know

by aroceu



Series: the castle's under siege [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2012-08-18
Packaged: 2018-05-22 16:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6086284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroceu/pseuds/aroceu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was always you, falling for me / Now there's always time, calling for me</p>
            </blockquote>





	blink back to let me know

When they first start meeting, it's in the Room of Requirement. Scorpius feels this friendship odd: it's nothing he knows how to do. Albus seems rather awkward with it as well, sending glances askance and looking hesitant every time before he speaks.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius had apologized, when Albus had told him he wanted to be a friend. "If I completely—cock it up, it's just going to be new for me."

"It'll be new for me too," Albus had said, sent him a sideways little smile.

Scorpius had chuckled at that, because even though he hadn't felt it was fitting, his nerves fluttered just a little. "How's it new for you?" he'd said. "You have plenty of friends."

"First time I'll be having a friend like you," Albus had said, and Scorpius had wondered what it meant.

Now Scorpius might know what Albus is talking about. Outside of their meetings in the Room of Requirement, Albus is mostly surrounded by his other friends—he apologizes to Scorpius about it, often, but Scorpius tells him that Albus has as much of a right to be with his other friends more than him, because Scorpius is only one person but Albus's friends are many. And the company of a person alone certainly isn't the same as many, because Albus is always laughing and being teased with his other friends, but then he sits next to Scorpius and their knees bump together in silence.

"Um," says Albus on one of these days. "I noticed you're good at Potions."

Scorpius's mouth lifts up in amusement. "I could be worse," he says. Really, Albus is always the tense one. Scorpius doesn't mind the silence at all, just at the look on Albus's face like he half wants to stay, half wants to bolt at any moment.

"I'm pretty okay at it too," says Albus, and then, "er," because he's probably thinking that he should go somewhere with this.

"Did you do the homework this evening?" says Scorpius. He definitely doesn't imagine it when faint splotches of red appear on Albus's cheeks.

"No," he says.

Scorpius reaches around him and tugs at his bag. "Then we should get started now," he says, and at Albus's astonished face, "I haven't started yet either."

The evening goes by with talks of Brisbane Potion and Scorpius thinks that, slowly, he might be able to get used to it.

*

Outside of the Room, Albus still talks to him of course. The Room is just their special place because no one knows about it—well, okay, according to Albus his entire extended family knows but they don't have any secrets to hide, never need a private place. Especially James, Albus had said one time, and Scorpius knows what he means—he's caught James Potter snogging random girls after hours before. Multiple times.

Scorpius thinks that Albus wants to sit with him at meals by the way that Albus looks almost longing every time he glances at him, especially during breakfast. But Albus's friends flock around him fast and Albus never seems to get a word in. (Scorpius, privately, doesn't mind—Albus has his own business to tend to.)

But one day Albus says, "Fran, move over," and Fran Finch-Fletchley looks confused as Scorpius passes by them, and Scorpius doesn't really think any of it till Albus says suddenly, "Scorpius, sit here."

All of Albus's friends turn to him, and Scorpius looks at Albus, surprised. "What?" he says.

Albus looks almost abashed. His cheeks tint slightly, but he pats the empty seat again. "Do you want to sit next to me?" he says, looking at Scorpius like he's unaware of the rest of the world. Which Scorpius knows for sure is untrue.

Scorpius eyes his friends: they seem cagey, unaware. Still, there are scarier things than being intensely observed by your Housemates. And besides, with the frequency of Albus's looks of want recently, Scorpius has no doubt that Albus is being anything other than sincere.

"Okay," Scorpius says, gives a curt nod. He slips into the gap between Fran Finch-Fletchley and Albus effortlessly, and pretends to look interested at the conversation between Albus's friends. He's really only interested in Albus.

*

"I need help," Albus says one day when he walks into the Room of Requirement. Scorpius is already here; he's been here for the past half hour, while Albus had been at Quidditch practice.

"Help with what?" Scorpius asks. He thinks that maybe, if they were closer friends, if their relationship consisted of things other than stilted silences and contrived conversations, and the tense touches that make Scorpius's stomach flip, he would've offered a jibe at Albus. But he doesn't think that their relationship has quite reached that stage yet.

"Schoolwork," says Albus, and then sighs. Plops down on the floor next to Scorpius. After Albus's intrusion on his life, the Room of Requirement had modified itself a little: no longer with couches or cushions, but a rather exceptionally comfortable floor.

Scorpius smiles a little when Albus leans a head on his shoulder. In here, they've started getting used to each other's presence, and Scorpius has also noticed that Albus is a bit touchy. "I'm not brilliant at all classes, you know," he says.

"Really?" Albus lifts his head up and looks at him. "What classes are you not good at?"

"Herbology," says Scorpius.

Albus sighs. "I'm pants at that too," he says. "I was gonna offer that if you help me with Transfiguration, I could help you with—Defense Against the Dark Arts, or something."

"Is that the only class you're good at?" says Scorpius, smiling.

Albus punches him lightly in the shoulder, a sign that they're growing closer. "Nothing wrong with that," he says.

*

They're sitting at breakfast again, but Albus has just come back from visiting his family at the Gryffindor table so his Slytherin friends aren't locking him in a conversation when he sits back down.

"Can I show you something?" he asks Scorpius.

Scorpius evens out the marmalade on his piece of toast. "Sure?" he says, sending a questioning glance in Albus's direction.

"It's," Albus says, then looks around at his friends. He conspiratorially whispers into Scorpius's ear, "It's a secret."

"So secret that none of your best mates know?" says Scorpius, grinning a little. He likes this, when it feels like just the two of them.

Albus looks embarrassed and says, "Yes, well—I mean, it's not something that I ought to tell—"

Scorpius laughs. He thinks it might be the first time he's laughed around Albus, everywhere, especially with how Albus's eyes look like they've widened by a millimeter at this and Scorpius finds himself briefly lost in a sea of green. "I wasn't serious," he says, and a flicker of understanding passes by Albus's face.

"I didn't know you were capable of doing that," says Albus, and Scorpius thinks,  _Yes, we're growing closer._

*

Scorpius thinks in numbers, and so he counts the days until Albus shows him his secret. Albus hadn't specified when he would, but Scorpius has noticed during recent days that he's been quarreling with Rose Weasley recently—well, not quarreling, technically, but Rose has been sending him disapproving looks every time Albus is looking at her and isn't. Rose sends Scorpius disapproving looks too, for a reason he doesn't know, so Scorpius feels like it may have something to do with the 'secret.'

Albus walks to class with his friends and Scorpius by his side. Scorpius feels slightly left out by the way that Albus talks so easily with his friends, and gets hit on the shoulder and hair ruffled a lot. Scorpius kind of wants to hit Albus on the shoulder too, and run his fingers through Albus's dark hair. There are days when he wishes he had always been in Albus's life.

"Saw you got an E on the last Transfigurations paper, Al," says one of his friends on their walk to Charms. Scorpius likes listening in on conversations whether he knows what's going on or not.

"How'd that happen?" says another one of Albus's friends.

Scorpius says nothing, but he sees Albus curl into himself a little and say, "I had some help."

"Ooh, help!" says a friend. "Was it your brother James? He's pretty brilliant at Transfiguration, isn't he?"

Albus laughs, but it feels half-hearted to Scorpius. "James is bollocks at everything," he says, and then nudges Scorpius's shoulder with his own a little. "No, it was Scorpius here."

"Oh yeah, Scorpius," says the friend standing on Albus's other side. "What a swot." But he's smiling so Scorpius thinks that it might be an attempt to be good-natured, to be another friend.

Scorpius stiffens. "Yes," he says. When they get into the Charms classroom, Scorpius sits in the seat farthest away from them, near the window.

*

Scorpius thinks in numbers, and it's been eight days until after lunch when they have a free period, Albus says, "Can I show you my secret now?"

"If you want," says Scorpius.

They walk out of the castle in silence. They reach the edge of the Black Lake when it suddenly occurs to Scorpius to wonder where they're going, because Albus hasn't debriefed him on any background information. "Are we going to the gardens?" he guesses as they pass by Professor Hagrid's house.

Albus shakes his head. "No, the, er—"

He points to the Forbidden Forest. Scorpius looks at him sharply, and briefly recalls when he'd caught Albus and a number of his family members coming from it.

"Forbidden Forest," Albus finishes, and Scorpius wastes no time berating him.

" _Forbidden_  Forest,  _Forbidden_ ," he says. "And have you forgotten that I'm a prefect? I could get you detention for this!"

"Yeah, that's why I didn't want to tell you beforehand," he hears Albus mumble under his breath. "And I don't think you'd give me detention," he adds, looking into Scorpius's eyes challengingly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

They glare at each other for a moment, and it makes Scorpius's stomach twist, glaring at all. He doesn't want things to be like this.

Finally, he stops, and steps away with his arms folded across his chest. "Before we go in there, tell me what your secret is," he says. "And no, I won't give you detention for just knowing."

"It's," says Albus, and then looks away. Bites his lip, and Scorpius doesn't know why he notices this. "You know how Professor Hagrid's a half-giant?" he says.

Scorpius nods.

"Heâ€¦ has a half-brother. Giant. Who lives in the forest," says Albus, and Scorpius's eyes widen.

"Youâ€¦ were taking me to see aâ€¦  _giant_?"

"He's not dangerous, I promise!" Albus hurries to say. "Mostly we just play with him. Talk. He's learning English, so we help him practice."

"You've been talking with a giant." Scorpius can't believe it.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, I know—just, don't get mad or anything! Most of the teachers know that he's there, anyways, and Professor Longbottom and Hagrid know that we visit him. We even got  _permission_  from Hagrid—"

"'We'?"

Albus looks embarrassed. "My family and I," he says. "It's—supposed to be a secret between us. But," he says to Scorpius, "I wanted you to know. Because," he says, and then blushes and turns away.

Albus's blushing confuses Scorpius. "Because what?" he says.

"I don't know." Albus kicks at the ground. Scorpius feels inclined to believe him, like there's something Albus doesn't understand even about himself.

Scorpius sighs, and relents. He can't recall another time in his life when he was about to do something this stupid. "All right," he says, and then grabs Albus's wrist and starts walking toward the wood. "Let's get this over with."

*

Meeting the giant is less— _weird_ , Scorpius supposes was his initial thought, than expected. The giant's name is Grawp, and he can understand basic English, and speak even more basic English. Scorpius hadn't said much, but Albus had introduced him and told him that Scorpius was a friend.

The only particular downside about their meeting was that Grawp had seemed rather taken with Scorpius's shiny blond hair.

It still feels like they're dancing around each other, he and Albus. Scorpius watches as Albus looks immaculately comfortable with his other friends, talking and laughing and all else—and wonders where any of that naturalness is when he and Albus are together. Scorpius feels closer to Albus, yet faintly far away. Like something's missing, that there's something that they should acknowledge, and Scorpius doesn't know what it is.

His diet's gotten used to his not skipping lunch anymore, surprisingly, and Albus says one day, "You're so skinny, Scorpius."

Scorpius laughs, because if Albus is calling him skinny, then Albus must be smaller than a twig. "Said the pot to the kettle," he says.

Albus's cheeks flush and he wraps his arms around himself, self-consciously. "I'm not skinny, I'm just—scrawny," he says, tightening his arms.

"There's nothing wrong with that," says Scorpius, feeling Albus's bony shoulder. He squeezes it. "Scrawny's cute, you know."

Albus's eyes widen and Scorpius feels like he's done something terribly wrong. He retracts his hand. "I mean," he says, and coughs distractedly. "Girls would think that," he says, for clarification, even though he's not a girl so he wouldn't know.

"Er." Albus swallows and nods. Scorpius watches his Adam's apple bob nervously. "Yeah," Albus says.

*

"It's time you two met," says Albus at the Slytherin-Gryffindor Charms class.

Rose Weasley gives Scorpius a once-over. "We've already met," she says plainly to Albus.

"Well, yeah, I mean—officially," says Albus, looking abashed. "You two are like—my closest friends, I thought that this should—"

"I'm one of your closest friends?" says Scorpius, turning to him. It makes no sense, considering they never talk about anything special: classes, the weather, meaningless gossip. Grawp, sometimes. They sit in silence a lot, too, when they're alone; but it's a silence they've gotten used to.

Albus's cheeks are dark red. "I—yeah," he says, and when he doesn't expound any further, Rose doesn't hasten to add, "He talks about you a lot."

"Rose!" Albus says, but then Rose Weasley looks too amused at teasing her cousin.

"Always talking about how pointy you look, and how you're not how he thought you were, and that you're too pretty to be a bloke—" And then Albus smacks her on the shoulder.

"Ow!" says Rose, but Scorpius is hardly bothered by her or her words.

"Oh," he says, and looks at her stiffly. Rose is smiling, but she falters at Scorpius's expression. Scorpius says, "I think we should get to our seats," and that's the end of that.

*

They're walking to the library and Scorpius is explaining the patterns of flowers' growth during the spring. It's May, and the sun is streaming bright through the corridor windows.

"I don't understand how you're bad at Herbology if you know all this," Albus says admiringly as they enter the library.

"I'm not bad at it," Scorpius says in a whisper; the librarian is strict about noise. "I just don't do as well as I do in other classes. Hands-on no-wand spellwork."

"Oh," says Albus, and nods as if he understands the way Scorpius works.

They find a table together. It's one of the rare times when Scorpius has Albus all to himself: his friends are off playing Quidditch or looking at girls in the courtyard, but Albus would much rather spend time with Scorpius.

"I don't understand you," Albus says after twenty minutes of Scorpius watching him write his Transfiguration essay while writing his own himself. Albus's handwriting is scrawly and ridiculous, and Scorpius thinks that it might just fit him. "Why aren't you trying to make other friends?"

"What?" Scorpius looks up from Albus's piece of parchment.

"I mean, like." Albus fidgets with his quill, and since he's not writing, Scorpius looks at him now. "My friends have tried to talk to you but you don't seem—friendly. And my family—"

"You want me to be friends with your brother?" Scorpius raises his eyebrows.

"Well no, not James!" says Albus, laughs a little. "Just—you're not willing to make friends with anyone else, are you? Anyone except me?"

Scorpius doesn't know what to do other than look into Albus's pure green eyes and say, "No, I'm not."

Albus casts his eyes down, looking a bit flustered. Pink splotches appear on his cheeks. "Okay," he says, and resumes writing his Transfiguration essay, handwriting looking a bit more scrawly than before.

*

"How did you know about this place before, anyway?" Scorpius asks when they're in the Room of Requirement again.

Albus hesitates from across the chessboard. "My father," he says. "He didn't tell me straight out, but—he hinted at it to me on the first day of second year and I figured out the rest."

" _You_  did?" Scorpius lifts a single eyebrow.

"Well—some help from the ghosts," Albus mumbles, and then moves his rook. Scorpius looks at the chessboard and can think of three ways to take it from its current position.

"Is it another one of your secrets that you had?" Scorpius teases lightly. And then, "You don't have any other secrets to tell me, do you?"

"Well," says Albus, and Scorpius raises his eyes to look at him, surprised.

Ten minutes later finds them in the Slytherin boys' dormitory, and Albus is rooting through his trunk. "Here," he says, whipping out something swishy and silvery.

It takes Scorpius to recognize what it is, from pictures he's seen in papers and texts. "That's the Invisibility Cloak," he says.

Albus nods, and wraps it around himself to demonstrate its invisibility. Scorpius watches, amazed, as Albus's entire body disappears, all except for his head.

" _The_  Invisiblity Cloak," he says. "The—Hallow, the one that belonged to Ignotus Perell. How'd you get it?" And then,  _oh right, it belonged to Harry Potter_.

"My father gave it to me," says Albus, affirming his suspicions. "This year, he said—that I could feel free to do what I wanted with it, since he trusted my responsibility. I haven't really used it much this year, though," he admits, looking down at the cloak.

"Much?" says Scorpius.

"Well," says Albus, "sometimes to sneak out and practice Quidditch."

*

"You never told me you liked Quidditch," Albus whispers as they tread down the corridors in their nightclothes. No one's in the corridor presently, but they can't take their chances.

"You never asked," Scorpius whispers back. He's aware of Albus's smaller frame pressed against his body, feeling the warmth of his presence. Then again, he supposes, Albus's presence has always had a certain warmth.

"But I asked you," says Albus, "before, if you wanted to play Quidditch with me and my friends."

"I don't want to play Quidditch with your friends," says Scorpius. He's glad that Albus doesn't ask any further: Albus probably knows what he means.

"When've you played before?" Albus asks.

"In the summers, at my home," says Scorpius. "It's beautiful there, actually—our grass is wonderful and we have our own Quidditch pitch."

"Are you any good?" asks Albus.

Scorpius laughs, softly. "You'll see," he says.

They make it past the front doors and into the night. The moon hangs silver in the sky, and Scorpius sees Albus watching it as they walk. Albus slips off the Invisibility Cloak on their way there, since there's no reason for them to be wearing it anymore as no one's outside at this hour, not even Filch. Scorpius misses Albus's heat, but loves the carefree smile on his face.

"We should do this again," Albus says happily, almost skipping through down the pathway.

Scorpius laughs, loudly this time. "We haven't even done anything yet," he says, and Albus stops and beams at him.

"I mean just  _this_ , sneaking out together," he says. "I never thought to do it before—I guess 'cause I didn't tell anyone about the Invisiblity Cloak before you, and it would've been lonely just to come by myself."

"You didn't tell anyone else about it either?"

"I—didn't think to," says Albus. Scorpius sees him blush even under the moonlight.

"And here I thought I was someone special," he says, grinning, and Albus says, "You are!"

They make their way to the Quidditch pitch, and take brooms from the broom shed. Scorpius gets the only Nimbus, much to Albus's chagrin, because Scorpius is still bigger than he is and had won their brief battle over it. Albus walks out with a Comet Two-Sixty in his hand.

"If we race, you'll beat me," he says.

"I don't know about that," says Scorpius, mounting his broom.

Scorpius does win, of course, but Albus laughs about it and casually does a side roll as they pause in the air. "You are good at Quidditch," he says.

"I am," says Scorpius proudly, easily swerving to look at him.

"Why aren't you on the Quidditch team?"

"I don't do teams," says Scorpius, and Albus, looking embarrassed, ducks down and says, "Oh, right."

Then Scorpius says, "Bet you can't catch me!" and shoots off like a rocket, high into the air. He hears Albus laugh jovially behind him and flies even faster, further, until he's sure he'll reach the moon. He can see the moonlight highlight his silver hair from the side, and when he glances back to Albus for a few seconds, can see Albus's bright green eyes, Albus's smile. Scorpius laughs and continues flying around, away from him, almost letting Albus catch him and feel more free than anything in the world.

He flies up, up, up like he's touching the moon and pauses there for a moment, waiting for Albus to catch up with him. Albus is impossibly fast, even on a Comet Two-Sixty, even if he can't match Scorpius and the Nimbus. When Albus is almost reaching him, Scorpius grins and, still in his nightclothes, shouts, "Down we go!" and shoots for the ground.

It sounds like Albus shouts something like, "But I almost caught you!" from behind, but Scorpius just grins and aims for the ground. The Quidditch pitch gets larger and larger, nearer and nearer, and the air is ripping by so fast that tears sting at Scorpius's eyes and he doesn't care. He crashes into the ground, though not leaving a dent into the dirt, and instead getting grass all over his pajamas and hair.

Albus races after him at the same speed and lands near him, looking impossibly brilliant. "Stupid," he says to Scorpius, and reaches over to brush some grass out of Scorpius's hair.

Scorpius takes him by the shoulder and presses their mouths together at that moment, because it feels like the right thing to do. Albus tastes like sweat and grass, and something that makes Scorpius want more, dig his fingers into Albus's shoulder. Something like magic.

*

They're walking back to the castle, a little sweatier and muddier, when Albus says, "I like you."

Scorpius says, "I like you too."

Albus looks at him and smiles. Somehow, their hands find each other and intertwine. When Albus opens his mouth again, it's to kiss Scorpius, and Scorpius thinks of Albus's touch as something sweet.

 


End file.
